A Story of Change – The Venus Project proposes an alternative vision of what the future can be if we apply what we already know in order to achieve a sustainable new World civilization.
It calls for a straightforward redesign of our culture in which the age-old inadequacies of war, poverty, hunger, debt and unnecessary Human suffering are viewed not only as avoidable, but as totally unacceptable.
Anything less will result in a continuation of the same catalog of problems inherent in today’s World.
One of the cornerstones of the organization’s findings is the fact that many of the dysfunctional behaviors of today’s Society stem directly from the dehumanizing environment of a monetary system.
In addition, automation has resulted in the technological replacement of Human labor by machines and eventually most people will not have the purchasing power to buy the goods and services turned out.
The Venus Project proposes a system in which automation and technology would be intelligently integrated into an overall holistic socio-economic design.
The primary function would be to maximize the quality of life rather than profits. This project also introduces a set of workable and practical values.
Our present culture is driven by technically incompetent politicians, scarcity-oriented economics and a system of obsolete values.
In order for us to be able to make the transition to this new, more humane Society a quantum leap in both thought and action is required.
Experience tells us that Human behavior can be modified, either towards constructive or destructive activity.
This is our plan – directing technology and resources toward problem solving for the benefit for all people and the planet, and updating our value system to correspond with the principles of this new direction.
This, combined with education on how to relate to one another in a much more meaningful way, could considerably reduce both mental and physical stress and leave us free to explore and develop our abilities.
As we outgrow the need for professions such as lawyers, bankers, insurance agents, marketing and advertising personnel, salespersons, and stockbrokers, a considerable amount of waste of Human ingenuity will be eliminated.
Only a few of the highest quality products would be needed to serve the entire population instead of hundreds of different manufacturing plants with paperwork and personnel turning out similar products.
The problems we are faced with today cannot be solved politically or financially because they are highly technical in nature.
There may not even be enough money available to pay for the required changes, but there are more than enough resources.
This is why The Venus Project advocates a transition from a monetary-based Society to the eventual realization of a global resource-based economy.
Fresco died on May 18, 2017 in his sleep at his home from complications of Parkinson’s disease at the age of 101. Fresco was an American futurist and self-described social engineer.
Self-taught, he worked in a variety of positions and lectured his views on sustainable cities, energy efficiency, natural-resource management, cybernetic technology, automation, and the role of science in Society.